Andrew Michael Hurley’s The Loney was first published in 2014 by Tartarus Press, a tiny independent publisher in Yorkshire, as a limited run of 300 copies. Word-of-mouth success led in 2015 to a second publication by John Murray, an imprint of Hodder; it has since sold 100 times the volume of its original print run. Earlier this year, The Loney won Best Debut Novel at the Costa Book Awards; at tonight’s British Book Industry Awards ceremony, it scooped not just the Debut Fiction prize but also the overall title of Book of the Year.

The Non-Fiction Book of the Year award was won by Norwegian Wood by Lars Mitting and Robert Ferguson, a surprise bestseller instructing the reader on the practical art of wood-chopping. Among the shortlisted non-fiction books were Mary Beard’s SPQR, Bill Bryson’s The Road to Little Dribbling, Ella Woodward’s Deliciously Ella and Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig.

Cathy Rentzenbrink, chair of judges, said: “From A Little Life, Norwegian Wood and My Brother Is a Superhero to overall winner The Loney, these books tell an important story about British publishing – that originality and individuality really count.”